Katsumi Sugita, a sansei or third-generation Japanese-American, was born in the relocation center in Poston, Arizona, shortly before the end of World War II. After their release at the end of the war, his family settled on a farm in central Utah. The closeness to nature of farm life as well as his family's adherence of Buddhist traditions have been enduring influences on his paintings. Despite continued art studies throughout his life at a number of schools, including UCLA and the Kawai Sumi-e School, Sugita spent many productive yeats in the world of business. Then, under the influence of his readings in Zen Buddhism and the life of Musashi Miyamoto, the great seventeenth century swordsman and painter, Sugita changed the direction of his life toward greater simplicity. With samurai blood on both sides of his family, Sugita identified with Miyamoto's quest for inner peace. He was trained in a variety of media, but he settled on brush painting because of its directness and immediacy. "Because it is not correctable, it expresses a feeling directly to paper. The simpler the painting, the more flawless it must be. My paintings express a feeling of simplicity."
